Driving mechanism for sectional machines



2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR JH/V/EL FQfl/VC/S B Y 2 A TTOANEJ D. R. FRANCIS Filed May 21, 1928 DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SECTIONAL MACHINES July 30, 1929.

July 30, 1929. D. R. FRANCIS DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SECTIONAL MACHINES Filed May 21, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR ,Dfi/v/EL Fee/v05 B m W I s I A TTORNE y about by bringing the latter into contact Patented July 30, 1929. 1

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL R. FRANCIS, OF WATERB'URY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE WATERBURY TOOL COMPANY, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SECTIONAL MACHINES.

Application filed May 21,

This invention relates to driving means for sectional machines of the type wherein it is necessary to maintain absolute synchronism between two adjacent machine sections. In certain types of machinery where the material is treated successively by different sections or parts of a continuously operating machine, the material is transferred from one section to the next adjacent one and in order that such transfer be made without damage to the material it is necessary that the speeds of travel of these two adjacent sections be adjusted to secure absolute" synchronism. An example of such a machine is the paper making machine known as the Harper Fourdrinier in which the paper pulp is laid upon the top of a traveling wire mesh belt-called the wire, from which it is transferred to a traveling felt belt or conveyer called the felt. The transfer. of the pulp from the wire to the felt is brought with the pulp on the wire and simultaneously exerting pressure upon the felt and wire to force the felt into intimate contact with the pulp. This pressure is exerted by means of a pair of pressure rollers called the couch press. The wire is trained about and is driven by the lower of the couch press rolls while the upper of said rolls is an idler roll and is driven by the felt which is trained about said idler roll. The felt picks off the partially pressed pulp from the wire at the couch ress and carries it to the first pair of pressing rolls of the paper machine proper, the felt is trained about and is driven by the lower of the last named press rolls. The couch press and paper press rolls are separately driven and while the wire and felt are driven respectively by the.

lower couch roll and the lower paper press roll, it is essential that the wire and felt be travelling at the same linear speed where they come in contact, otherwise the pulp: would not be picked off the wire by the felt. On account of wear it is necessary to grind both the couch rolls and the paper press rolls at frequent intervals, If the press roll is ground, iinear speed of the felt wiii of course be reduced. if the couch roll is ground, the linear-speed of the wire will be reduced. it is therefore necessary to provide some means fer increasing the rotational speed of the effected so that it wili bring up the iinear speed of the belt 1928. Serial No. 279,311.

member which it drives to synchronism with the other belt member.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved construction for automatically controlling the linear speeds of the wire and felt to maintaln them in absolute synchronism.

The above and other objects of the invention will appear more fully from the following more detaileddescription and by reference to the accompanying drawings forminga part hereof, wherein Fig. 1 is a dlagrammatic side elevation of the wire and felt sections of a Harper-Fourdrinier paper machine showing by way of example an application of the principles of my invention to this type of machine; Fig. 2 is a plan View of the structure shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a detail partly in section and partly in side elevation of the control mechanism for one of the drivingunits.

As shown in the drawings the numeral 10 indicates the wire mesh conveyor belt of the paper machine which at one end is trained about and driven by the lOWer couch roll 11. At the other end the wire is trained about an idler roll 12. Extending above the wire is the felt 13 which, in accordance with the usual construction of machines of this type, is in'the form of an endless conveyor, one end of vwhich is trained about and is driven by the lower press roll 14. The otherv end of the felt is trained about the upper couch roll 15 and is pressed into contact with the paper pulp upon the wire by such roll 15, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Between the rolls l and 15 the upper and lower reaches of the felt pass over the guide rolls 16 and 17..

In accordance with the principles of the present invention the first press roll 1% is driven by any suitable driving means, not shown, and the rotation of this roll is used for driving the pump or A-end, designated by the reference character A, of a hydraulic speed gear of the type known as the Waterbury gear. Fluid from the A-end of the gear is circulated under pressure to the hydraulic motor B of such speed gear. The latter is employed for driving the couch roll 11.

As shown most clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings, the main shaft 18 of the pump or A-end of the speed gear is driven from the first press roll 14 by means of a belt 19 trained about driving pulleys and 21, the pulley 20 being secured upon an extension shaft 22 secured by the flexible coupling 23 to the shaft of the press roll 14 and the pulley 21 being secured to the driving shaft 18 of the pump. The shafts 22 and 18 are mountedin suitable bearings 24, 25 respectively.

The driving shaft 26 of the B-end has secured to it a driving pulley 27 which drives a belt 28 trained about said pulley and a second pulley 29 secured to a shaft. 30. The shaft 30 is mounted in bearings 31 and carries at one end a gear 32 which meshes with a gear 33 secured to the outer project-- ing end of the couch roll 11.

Hydraulic speed gears of the \Vaterbury type are well known in the arts and the constructional details of such-gears form no part of the present invention. It will therefore be sllflicicnt for the purposes of the present application to but briefly describe their construction. It will be sufficient to state that both pump and motor are of similar construction and each comprise a rotatable barrel 35 (see Fig. provided with a plurality of cylinders 36 extending parallel to the driving shaft of the respective unit-Q Each cylinder 36 has slidably mounted therein a piston 37, the latter being connected by its piston rod 38 with a swash plate 39 mounted for rotation in a tilting box 40. 'ith the tilting box 40 and swash plate 39 inclined, as shown in Fig. 3, rotation of the barrel produces a reciprocation of the pistons 37 in the cylinders 36 and causes fluid under pressure to be delivered, for example, through the pipe 41 to the motor B, the fluid passing through said motor and causing its cylinder barrel to be rotated, after which the fluid is returned through the pipe 42 back to the pump A. In accordance with the usual construction of such speed gears the position of the tilting box 40 of the pump or A-end is made adjustable while the tilting box of the motor is preferably held at a fixed inclination. .The adjustment of the tilting box of the A-end is effected by means of a control shaft 43 which passes into the pump casing and is suitably connected with the tilting box 40.

In accordance withthe present invention movement of the control shaft to vary the inclination of the tilting box and therefore the output of the pump, is effected by the following means: The upper end of the control shaft 43 has connected thereto, by means of a coupling 44, a threaded shaft 45. The threaded portion 46, of the shaft 45, engages within the nut 47 held against longitudinal -movement in a bracket 48, extending upwardly from the casing of the pump. The nut 47 has secured thereto a Worm Wheel 49 withwhich meshes a Worm 50. The Worm 50 issecured adjacent to one end of a shaft 51, to the other end of which is fastened a sprocket wheel 52. The sprocket Wheel 52 is driven from the roller 12, at one end of the wire 10 by means of a sprocket wheel 53 secured to an extension of the shaft of the roller 12, a sprocket chain 54 connecting the sprockets 52 and 53.

The threaded shaft has its lower end connected for rotation butheld against longitudinal movement relatively to the coupling 44 and the upper end of said shaft eured adjacent to one end of the shaft 58.

To the other end of the shaft 58 is connected a sprocket wheel 59 driven by a chain (30 trained about a sprocket Wheel 61 secured to the outer projecting end of the guide roller 17.

The operation of the installation is as follows: Assuming the press roll 14 to be rotating it will drive the shaft 18 of the pump A by means of the pulleys 20, 21 and belt 19. The cylinder barrels 35 being secured. to the shaft 18 it will therefore be rotated and with the tilting box 40 and swash plate inclined, as indicated in Fig. 3, fluid Will be pumped under pressure through the pipe 41 to the 'motor B and will cause the shaft 26' of said motor to be put in rotation, the pipe 42 returning the fluid from the motor to the pump. The rotation of the shaft 26' is imparted to the couch roll 11 by means of the pulleys 27, 29, belt 28 and gears 32, 33.

It Will be noted that the roller 12 is in contacting engagement with the Wire and as it is an idler roll, it will have imparted to it, a linear speed equal to that of the linear speed of the wire. The speed of the roll 12 is communicated through the sprockets 52, 53 and chain 54 to the shaft 51, thus causing the shaft 51. and its worm gear to be rotated at a speed proportional to that of the speed of rotation ofthe roller 12. It will also be noted that the guide roller 17 is in contact with the felt l3 and that its rotation is communicated through the sprockets 59, 61 and belt (30, to the shaft 58. The Worm 57, upon shaft 58 will therefore be rotated a speed proportional to the speed of rotation of the roller 17. As the rollers 12 and 17 are rotated entirely by the contacting en gagement with them of the wire 10 and felt 13 respectively, it will be obvious that given a proper dimensioning of the rollers 12 and 17 and a proper gear ratio of the Worms 50, 57 and their co-operating Worm gears 49, 56, the two worm gears 49, 56 will turn at the. same speed when the wire and felt are rotating at the same speed. Assuming this condition to be established, it will therefore be seen that when the two sections of the machine are operating at the same speed,

that is to say, the wire and 'felt traveling at the same speed, the worm gears 49, 56 will be rotating at the same speed and therefore the shaft 45 and nut 47 will be rotating at the same speed. Consequently, no longitudinal movement of the control shaft will speed of rotation of the motor B and roll 11.

As soon as synchronism of the linear speeds is again established, the worm wheels 49 and 56 will. again rotate at the same speed and the control shaft 43 will be held in adjusted position. If for any cause the linear speed of the felt should increase over the linear speed of the wire, the worm wheel 56 will then start torotate faster than the worm wheel 49, thus producing a longitudinal movement of the control shaft 43 in a direction opposite to that above described so as to increase the output of the pump and thereby increase the speed of rotation of the roll 11 and the linear speed of the wire 10.

If it becomes necessary to grind the couch roll thereby reducing its diameter, the

worm 50 and worm ear 49, produce an automatic adjustment 0 the speed of the B-end to compensate for the changed conditions. Likewise, if the press roll were ground, reducing its diameter and thereby reducing the speed of the felt, there would be an automatic compensation produced through the worm 57 and the worm wheel 56 to bring about a reduction of speed of the wire and restorethe synchronous relationship.

It will be noted that with the installation above described, two separate controlling members, the worm wheels 49 and 56 are in co-operative relationship with the adjustable controlling device, namely, the control shaft 43 which controls the speed of rotation of the driving member for one of the sections of the machine.\ Each of the controlling members above referred to is driven by a roller, the roller for one controlling member being directly in contact with, and driven by, its engagement with one of the If from any cause whatsoever theconstructional example selected for illustration, produces a change of speed in but one of the machines sections. The use of a hydraulic speed .gear in connection with a controlling device of the character illustrated, possesses marked advantages; first, because it is possible with a hydraulic speed gear to obtain practically infinite speed variations ranging from Zero to the maximum speed for which the gear is designed; second, the hydraulic speed gear is instantly responsive to changes in the adjustment of the control shaft; third, the speed changes are secured gradually without shock or jerk; fourth, the speed gear delivers its full torque at its lowest, as well as the highest speeds; fifth, relatively large speed changes are obtainable by comparatively small amounts of movement of the control shaft 43; and sixth, the power required for moving the control shaft is not very great.

While I have shown the invention as applied to a paper making machine, it will be understood that such machine has been se-- application to a machine of this particular type, but that it is capable of use with any two adjacent machines, or sections of a machine, where it is desired to secure either synchronism of speeds or a'predetermined speed ratio, different from unity, of certain members of such adjacent machines or sections.

It will likewise be understood that many changes, variations and modifications from the specific constructional details herein disclosed, may be resorted to without departing from the principles of the invention.

I claim:

1. An apparatus comprising a pair of adjacent machines or sections of amachine, operating successively to treat material fed therethrough and having independent driving means, characterized by one of said driving means consisting of a hydraulic speed gear comprisinga fluid pressure pump and a fluid pressure motor, said pump having an adjustable control shaft for varying its output, a pair of rotating members, one in contacting engagement with a movable part of one machine or section and the other in contacting engagement with a movable part of the other machine, and operative connections between said members and said control shaft.

2. An apparatus comprising a pair of adjacent machines or sections of a machine,

operating successively to treat material fed ing means consisting of a hydraulic speed gear comprising a fluid pressure pump driven from one of said sections, and a fluid pressure motor to which fluid from said pump is circulated, said pump being provided with an adjustable control shaft and a rotatable nut having ascrew threaded connection with said shaft, and a pair of rotating members, one in contacting engagement with a movable part of one of machine or section, and the other in contacting engagement with the other machine or section, and connections between said rotating members and said shaft and nut.

3. The combination with the wire section and felt section of a paper making machine, of a hydraulic speed gear comprising a pump and a motor, said pump being driven by one of said sections and the motor driving the other of said sections, said pump having an adjustable control shaft, a rotatable nut having a screw threaded connection with said nut, a pair of rollers, one in contacting peripheral engagement with the wire and the other in engagement with the felt and connections from said rollers to said nut and control shaft.

4. The combination with a pair of machine units operating successively to treat material passed through said units, each unit having a traveling conveyer for carrying said material and said conveyors being brought into juxtaposition for effecting the transfer of the material from one conveyer to the other, of means for insuring accurate synchronism of linear speed of said conveyers comprising a hydraulic speed gear comprising a variable speed pump and a motor, said pump being driven by the driving mechanism of one conveyer and said motor driving the other conveyer, said pump having an adjustable control shaft, a rotatable nut having screw threaded engagement with said control shaft, a roller having its periphery in frictional engagen'ient with one of said conveyors Whereby said roller will be driven at the same speed as its respective conveyer, driving c011- nections between said roller and said nut, and a second roller in frictional engagement with the other conveyer and driving connections between said second roller and said control shaft.

5. The combination with a pair of machine units operating successively to treat material passed through said units, of a hydraulic speed gear comprising a pump and a motor, said pump being driven from one of said units and said motor driving the other of said units, said pump being provided with a controlling device for varying its output and thereby the speed of said motor, and means for automatically regulating the speed of said motor and the unit driven thereby comprising a pair of rotating members, one driven by, and proportionately to the speed of, said one unit and the other driven by, and proportionately to the speed of, said other unit, and driving connections between said members and said controlling device.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

DANIEL R. FRANCIS. 

